Reminders Of A Lost Love
by Just4FunFiction
Summary: The Metarex War had ended over a year ago, but the memories still remained. While the battle had, naturally, affected everyone, there was still one who suffered more than everyone else had.


' _Leave me alone,' he thought as he ran for his life, 'just leave me alone!' The young kitsune ran through the forest as fast as he could, dodging tree after tree, trying to get away from the dark figure that was following him. It seemed like he had been running forever and the forest never seemed to end. He kept running and running, ignoring the pain he felt in his legs, just when he started to see the light again. 'This is it,' he thought, the bangs bouncing on his head, 'free at last.'_

 _His thoughts, however, were far from the truth. He tripped on a vine and was sent tumbling past at least a dozen trees, before his two tails got stuck. He tried to pull them free, but they wouldn't move._

' _NO!' he mentally screamed, desperation flooding his mind, 'NOT AGAIN!'_

 _He knew what was about to come and he knew that he had to get his tails free if he didn't want it to happen. He pulled his tails, he kicked the tree, he even tried to pull the roots from the ground, but it wouldn't do. He looked up and saw the dark figure, just mere metres away. His face went white and all he could feel was horror as he saw it, just floating in front of him._

 _The dark figure, which had a purple-black aura around it, was almost purely black. Its hands, its legs, its whole body was black. There were just a few things that weren't black. There was a reddish black amulet over its chest, the eyes were pure white with red pupils and it had roses on its head which were a reddish black. The weird thing was that it was a female child. It would be weird to anyone else, anyway, but to Tails, he was all too familiar with this dark figure._

" _Cosmo," he wept, tears dropping onto his trapped tails, "I've said I'm sorry a million times. I can't think of any other way to prove it to you. There hasn't been a day that's gone by where I haven't missed you or regretted what I've done."_

" _Tails," the dark figure howled, "you have to pay. You. Must. Pay."_

" _Cosmo, please," the kitsune begged at her feet, "I know that I shouldn't have killed you. Any other way, ANY way that we could have won, I wouldn't have done what I did. I really didn't want to do it. Up to this day, I have regret-"_

" _Nothing you say can change my mind," she snapped, staring down at him hard, "your fate was sealed the minute you pulled that trigger. You must join me."_

" _I know," he sniffled back at her, "I just want to be done with it."_

" _The time is nigh, and soon, we shall be united in the land of the dead."_

 _That was the last thing Cosmo said to Tails. Right after she said that, she formed an energy in her hands, creating a giant, black ball of energy, which she forced towards Tails as a laser. All Tails could do was lie there and whimper as everything turned black._

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Tails shouted with an earth shattering wail, launching himself upwards in his bed.

He checked around him and saw he was in his bedroom. His heart was pounding rapidly; his body was coated in beads of cold sweat. When he realized that, just like every night for the past year and a half, it was just a dream, he sighed and slowed down his breathing to normal. He threw the duvet off of him and swung his legs over the side of the bed, placing his feet on the floor. Tails, wiping some of the sweat off of his forehead, then sat up and looked at his alarm clock, seeing that it was only 23:47.

'Dang it,' he thought to himself, as he looked back to his bed, 'why can't I just get some sleep? Oh, great, the sweat's soaked right through again.'

These dreams had been conflicting Tails ever since he took the life of Cosmo in order to end the Metarex war. During the time of that war, Tails had fallen deeply in love with Cosmo and was looking forward to spend his life with her, but it wasn't meant to be. If Cosmo had not sacrificed herself, the entire universe would have been destroyed. Since then, Tail stayed at home and only left the house for personal matters or for groceries. Every night, Tails would go to sleep and wake up in a matter of minutes from the same dream, meaning he could never sleep, which had taken a toll on his body. His fur had become darker from the sweat, his eyes were bagging and bloodshot and his mind was never in the right place. He had also become somewhat dependent on coffee to make up for the lack of energy he would have received from sleep.

Sleep wasn't the only thing he had lost since her death, however. He had also lost all passion- for inventing; for his friends; for life itself. He had dismantled practically everything he had ever built, the only things he kept being a couple of his planes. No one had seen or heard from the young fox and they had no idea what his condition was like or what he had been going through.

Tails' trail of thought was interrupted by a knock at the door. Confused as to who would be knocking at this time of night, Tails got up and headed downstairs, then went through his living room and to the door. Opening the door, he was surprised to see Sonic standing there. The blue hedgehog looked back at Tails with shock, observing Tails' state with great concern.

"Whoa, buddy," Sonic said, shaking his head a little, "what happened?"

"Too much, Sonic," Tails replied, "too much. What are you doing here?"

"I was out for a run and I heard you shouting. What's going on?"

'He really heard me? How loud WAS I?' Tails thought to himself.

Sonic waited for Tails to respond, but he didn't get any answer. He just saw him looking down at his feet, Sonic had a feeling he knew why, so he just turned around and walked down the pathway. Just as he was about to go through the gate, he stopped. He knew Tails was about to say something.

"Sonic," Tails said, just as Sonic had predicted, "I could really use a chat."

Elated that his 'brother' wanted to open up to him for the first time in months, smirked and followed Tails into his house. They sat down on the kitsune's couch once Tails got the fire on.

"So, Tails," Sonic started, unsure how to continue, "what's been happening?"

"Well," Tails hesitated, scratching the back of his head, "I keep getting these... dreams. Nightmares, really."

"Go on, then," Sonic goaded, "tell me. Don't worry, it's just between you and me."

Tails told Sonic about his dreams for the next five minutes or so. The deeper into it Tails got, the more it mortified Sonic. It explained so much to the cobalt hero, but confused him even more at the same time. It proved just why Tails had kept to himself the past few months; why nobody ever heard from him; why Tails' plane was never seen leaving his hangar. At that time, however, one thing in particular was obvious.

"So that's why you look like you've been dragged out of a dumpster," Sonic teased, "and smell like it too."

"Cut it out, Sonic," Tails replied angrily, rubbing his eyes, "I'm very tired and I'm not in the mood for your joking."

"Sorry, you're right," Sonic did something that is rarely seen- he got serious. "Honestly, though, I think you need to speak to someone." Tails was about to reply, but Sonic cut him off. "I'm not saying it has to be one of us. It can be a therapist, it could be one of us, I might be able to get one of your parents to come and see you. But, please, bro, see someone. Look at you. This isn't healthy."

Tails sighed. He knew Sonic was right, but he didn't know who to see. It wasn't that easy for Tails to do so, since he barely knew anyone that could understand the pain he felt and the thoughts, memories and emotions that haunted his each and every waking moment of life since that fateful day.

"Alright, Sonic," Tails replied, sneakily hiding a smile, "I'll speak to someone. Not yet, but soon. Just keep this between us."

"Thanks, bro," Sonic replied, getting up, "just glad to see you speaking to me again." He made his way to the door, but before he could leave, he heard Tails stop him.

"Wait," Tails said, "this... is gonna sound weird, but, could you... stay here? Tonight?" Sonic's expression didn't change. "I could just really use someone to look after me tonight."

Sonic smirked and walked over to his brother, embracing him with a hug.

"No problem, bro," Sonic answered, "I'll stay."

They then headed upstairs, Sonic making sure Tails got to sleep alright. As soon as Tails was sound asleep, Sonic slowly left the room and shut the door, then headed downstairs. He sat on the couch for awhile, looking at the fire.

'I hope you get better, little bro,' he thought, staring intensely at the flickering flames, 'I hate seeing you like this, and I'm pretty sure that Cosmo, wherever she is, feels the same way. You might be growing up, and I know you've been through a lot with what happened, but that's no reason to shun yourself away from us. Recently, with how hostile and distant you've been, no one has been able to see you in the same way as we have before. I can still remember you as being the fun loving inventor who would always stand by his friends- what happened to that Tails?' He sighed, looking down at his feet. 'You need to understand that, no matter what you're going through, there are people in your life who are here for you. If you ever need anything, we're here to help you.' This was the last thing he thought about it before he fell asleep on the couch.


End file.
